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April 25th marked our 100th day in Leipzig. It’s hard to believe that we have hit the 100 day mark! It’s been an amazing adventure for our family, getting to explore new cities, a new culture, new food and learn a new language. We have a couple fun facts that we’ve learned during our 100 days in Leipzig:

1 – Child bike seats are used for transporting kids as well as groceries and dog food.
2 – Sausages have become Sabrina (and Cooper’s) favorite food. Last weekend Sabrina ate 4 sausages in 48 hrs. Not sure if we are proud or horrified!
3 – After attending our first German Regatta, we learned that stand up kayaking is referred to as ‘Canadiana’. How fitting eh?!
4 – One can replace lunch with a bag of Flipz in a pinch (think peanut flavor and cheesy texture). How are these not sold in the US or Canada?
5 – An important aspect of Apartment living is the shared responsibility of communal mopping the hallway. Would have been nice to know this before getting all the dirty looks from our neighbors.

April was a great month for Grandparent visits. Pam and Rol came to Leipzig for 5 days and we had a wonderful time. We saw the sights, had dinner at many delicious restaurants, had a picnic in Clara Zetkin park and ate ice cream most days. Sabrina had so much fun playing with her Grandma & Nonno, and Adrian and I got out on a few dates thanks to our great babysitters:)

We went for dinner a traditional German Dinner at Bayerischer-Bahnhof, one of Leipzig’s landmarks. It was built in 1842 and is the oldest preserved head rail station in the world. Now serving delicious food and Gose beer.

We had a great time with Grandma & Nonno; thank you so much for an amazing visit and all the fun!

 

Sheila, Paul, Sabrina and I had a wonderful trip to Prague. We spent 4 days exploring this beautiful city. Every morning we woke up to a bluebird sky and made a quick stop at the local bakeshop before heading out to sightsee. This bakeshop was amazing; we tasted some of the best macaroons and quiches along with other scrumptious treats. We spent one day exploring the Jewish Quarter, one day at Prague Castle and the rest of the time seeing other sights and attractions (and visiting a few playgrounds here and there to keep Sabrina entertained). We walked across the Charles Bridge, visited the boulevard at Wenceslas Square, toured the newly renovated Communist Museum and tasted the Prague famous trdlo (a sweet fried pastry filled with chocolate, ice cream, whipped cream and custard)! The goulash was delicious and Paul thoroughly enjoyed the local Pils.

In a couple words, I would describe Prague as a beautiful, colorful and magical city. On every corner you see a new building with bold colors and amazing architecture. It was a wonderful vacation. One for the record books! Thanks Mom and Dad.

 

    

We had a wonderful two weeks with Sheila and Paul exploring Leipzig. We visited many historic sites, famous museums, parks, playgrounds and ate and drank lots of German delicacies at a variety of local restaurants and pubs. During our trip to the Bach Museum, we found Sabrina rockin’ out to Bach music wearing DJ style headphones. A definite highlight;) Paul took a liking to the Germany beers, but probably had enough potato soup to last a lifetime.  Sheila and Sabrina tasted many different flavors of ice cream, with lemon and erdbeere (strawberry) the two favorites!

The weather was perfect, low 20s (celsius) most days, so we were able to eat on patios, take a river boat cruise along the Karl-Heine Kanal and White Elster River and explore the city by foot. We were very lucky to have the opportunity to celebrate my parents 70th birthdays at the famous Auerbachs Keller restaurant. On their last day in Leipzig, my parents were able to hear the world famous St. Thomas Boys Choir perform at the St. Thomas Church. Thanks for such a great visit Mom & Dad!

 

 

After weeks of being down for the count with every German flu and cold bug out there, we are all finally feeling well and enjoying the beautiful weather! This weekend we spent more time outside then in and loved the sunshine! Sabrina and I spent a morning at the Leipzig Zoo, visited three different Speilplatz (playgrounds), had far too many treats (all of the ice cream and gelato stands are open for business) and enjoyed a fun Saturday early evening downtown. Downtown Leipzig is beautiful and fun. Lots of old buildings, cafes, shops and more casual street drinking than I’ve ever experienced. We’re gearing up for Easter as it’s a big holiday here. You can’t walk into a grocery store with being accosted with Easter bunnies, Easter decorations and chocolate eggs.

 

Three days in Leipzig with Megs was a blast! We walked, bached (went to the Bach Museum), talked and indulged in many German treats (sausages, hefewizens, croissants and schnitzel).  The weather was very cold but that didn’t stop us from exploring the city and visiting one of Leipzig’s most famous attractions, the Monument of the Battle of Nations. The Monument was built in 1813 to commemorate Napoleon’s defeat at Leipzig. We climbed 500 steps to reach the top where we were awarded with a panoramic view of the city. We saw all the sites and ended the visit with dinner at Auerbachs Keller which is the best known and the second oldest restaurant in Leipzig, Germany.   It was a wonderful visit; thanks for coming Megs!

Last weekend we took a road trip to Oberstdorf; a small town in the German, and to our surprise, Austrian Alps! This was Sabrina’s first time on skis and Cooper’s first time in Austria! As we were driving to the ski hill, we soon realized that we would be crossing into Austria. We didn’t have our passports and were pretty sure that Cooper was not allowed in Austria. We told Coop to keep his head down and drove across the boarder!

After an eventful time renting skis where hardly any english was spoken, we made it to the magic carper, ready to shreed some pow-pow. Sabrina’s first experience on skis was a success! Her face was a combination of joy and fear. When asked what her favorite part was, she promptly said hot chocolate! Sounds about right. Our accommodation was typical German style in a quaint European town called Pfronten. This town known for its beer and massive bonfires that ward away evil winter spirits.

It’s hard to believe that we have been in Germany for a month already! Time is going quickly! Everyday we are starting to feel more settled and are learning  the nuances of living in a foreign country. A couple things we’ve observed:

1) You always need cash; merchants do not like credit cards and when you try to use them, you get a dirty look followed by some grumpy German expression I don’t yet understand
2) Bread, pretzels, donuts and croissants are so cheap and available on every street corner
3) It’s cheaper to drink beer than water
4) Cyclists don’t use traditional arm signals when turning which creates some serious confusion during our rides
5) It’s a beautiful city with so much to do and see! We’re lucky to be here:)

Here’s a picture of my morning commute with Sabrina to her school and our Valentine’s breakfast cake (we tried to make a heart with raspberries:))!

This weekend was Carnival! In Germany, Carnival is a pre-lent celebration where people dress up, party, parade through the streets and enjoy traditional Carnival sweets (aka candy & donuts)!  At Sabrina’s school, they had a celebration where all kids needed to dress up. Of course we didn’t bring a costume so I got crafty! I was pretty proud of our Peppa the Pig! We decided to check out the local Parade to round out the experience. This included floats, candy, confetti, dancing, singing, and lots of shenanigans (both Adrian and I were hit in the head with  a pack of flying mentos):)

We also went to the Public Library. All the books are in Germany so instead of reading, Sabrina opted to rock out to some German tunes! The other fun adventure we had this weekend was baking! Germany has an odd baking powder/baking soda concoction which leaves a questionable after-taste. After some experimenting we successfully made pancakes and banana muffins! A little taste of home:)

Our day started off with homemade German Apple Cake (turned out surprisingly well considering the directions where in German and I was missing some ingredients), a river walk with random musical instruments hanging in a tree and a trip to a winter carnival.  Sabrina loved the heiße Schokolade and Adrian an XL Stiegl!